Inspired by...

...Pasta and porchetta princess, Sara Jenkins' green bean salad at her new East Village restaurant Porsena (if you haven't been yet, it's cozy and wonderful - like you're eating at home with your Italian grandmother).  Jenkins may have gained acclaim for her heftier dishes and love of all things pork, but the green bean salad is a total star on the menu.  Fresh, simple, gorgeously green and crunchy--a perfect healthy pick for the first weeks of spring.  I recreated her dish at home based on memory and taste.  Darn close to the original...

green beans with fennel & toasted almonds 
serves 2
blanch a small bunch of haricot verts (French beans) in boiling water for about 2 minutes, plunge into an ice bath.
remove beans and place in a mixing bowl.
toss in thinly shaved fennel (a mandolin makes it super easy), toasted chopped almonds, finely sliced red onion (Jenkins actually pickles hers first, which I adore, but I didn't have the time).
add juice from 1/2 lemon, 2-3 teaspoons of good red wine vinegar, a nice dose of extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper to taste, mix well and you're done.

(my version above, Sara's pretty version below)

images via: nourish, the L magazine